Friendship Scales
by MWolfL
Summary: Dot Puppy finds out about Chameleon not having any friends and forces her brother Ace to help her help Chameleon. Meanwhile a lonely rattlesnake named Tillie enters Petropolis... ChameleonXOC
1. Old Foe, New Friend

It was Friendship Day in Petropolis. Almost everyone was out having fun either playing with their friends or making new ones. There was also a carnival going on in the park.

Not all could have the day off. Holidays like this meant a risk of criminals causing mischief or taking advantage of the celebrations to steal things. So obviously T.U.F.F. was still working. To make up for not going to the carnival though Chief (who was among the ones who wanted to go badly) allowed his agents to have fun at headquarters as long as the alarms were kept on. Agents could enjoy funny videos online or have fun in the break rooms. Also some agents who were good at cooking were making some goodies to have after lunch.

Two of the agents were having fun in the training room however: Dudley and Ace Puppy. They were playing fetch with each other. It's pretty much like playing catch but with dog toys.

"Get it dad!" Ace tossed the rubber bone they were playing with.

"I got it!" Dudley laughed before leaping up and catching the bone.

Kitty then showed up.

"I know you two are having fun, but I was wondering if Ace wanted to take a break and have fun with Dot at the carnival." She said.

"Aw mom, I love working here." Ace frowned.

"I know, but remember the fun you and Dot used to have every year on this holiday?" Kitty said.

"Besides, you can be on patrol at the same time." Dudley suggested.

"Okay, you have a point there." Ace shrugged. "Let's see...Dot said she was going to be busy sorting through those donations she got for the poor...she's probably on her way to the bus stop that's nearest to our house now, I'll meet her there."

And so, Ace left for that bus stop.

It turns out he was right, Dot was on her way to the bus stop. She didn't expect to see a green lizard wearing a black suit sobbing there though.

"Excuse me, are you all right?" She asked.

Startled, the lizard looked up and stared at her.

"Kitty Katswell?" He said.

"No that's my mom...oh you must be the Chameleon." Dot realized.

You see Dot never really met the criminals before, not even the ones T.U.F.F. frequently went after. Since she's not into catching badguys she decided to just stay away from the subject entirely.

"Oh yeah, I heard Kitty and Dudley had kids...I know your brother a little too well." Chameleon winced.

"Not surprised." Dot smiled. "So why were you crying?"

"Oh, it's because of this day." Chameleon frowned. "I always hated this day, it reminds me that I don't have any friends."

"Well badguys usually don't have friends." Dot pointed out.

"I mean before I became a badguy." Chameleon sighed.

Dot was shocked.

"Wait a minute, you mean you've never had a friend in your life?" She asked.

"No, not one. Most people find me too weird."

"Because of your eyes I'm guessing. Well all chameleons have eyes like that." Dot shrugged.

"I know, but other people still can't look past it."

"Well I can. Maybe I can be your friend." Dot smiled.

Chameleon stared at her again.

"Really?" He said with both hope and disbelief.

"Sure...you'll have to reform first though. If nothing else I don't want to offend the rest of my family."

"Understandable-"

"Dot look out!"

"Speaking of your brother." Chameleon facepalmed.

Sure enough Ace kicked Chameleon right off the bench.

"Ace stop!" Dot cried.

Ace froze before he could punch Chameleon.

"Geez, we were just talking!" Dot frowned. "You're just as impulsive as dad was."

Yeah Dudley eventually learned to think before acting. Took him a while but Kitty constantly yelling at him about a mistake (or two...two-hundred that is) helped him learn.

"But sis, this guy nearly killed our mom countless times and even our dad many times!" Ace protested.

"Yeah well at the moment he's too sad to do anything evil." Dot crossed her arms. "He's never had a friend in his life so I'm betting that his past actions were just him lashing out about that."

Chameleon nodded rapidly, desperately hoping that Ace would listen to Dot and let him go. Ace having inherited Dudley's strength and Kitty's skills meant that he could pack a really painful punch...

Ace dropped Chameleon.

"'In his life'?" He was surprised. "Not even the other criminals."

"Nope." Chameleon quickly said.

"Huh..." Ace obviously wasn't expecting this. "Didn't you try to make a friend?"

"Of course I did, loads of times." Chameleon frowned; he then pulled out a book called The Very Lonely Lizard. "I tried the beach, the mall, and other places but I always got arrested for loitering or shoplifting or something else. Eventually I decided that if I was going to get constantly arrested then I might as well get arrested for bigger crimes."

"Oh." Ace felt a bit awkward, this was the first time he was near a badguy and couldn't beat him up.

"Anyway, I had just offered to be Chameleon's friend before you interrupted us." Dot continued. "But he'll have to reform first, for obvious reasons."

"Heh, if he ever will." Ace shook his head. "He's been a badguy for years and bad habits are hard to break."

"You would know about that one." Dot smirked.

Ace glared at her.

"I'm sure he can reform if given the chance and some help." Dot said. "What do you say Ace?"

"What? Me help a badguy, even if it's to get him to reform? No thank you." Ace shook his head.

"Ace I can't do this alone..." Dot then smirked mischievously. "Well if you don't help then I could just show everyone at T.U.F.F this photo I took of you behind our house doing you-know-what."

Ace turned red with fury.

"Darn you-" He growled and then sighed defeatedly. "Okay fine, you win."

"Great!" Dot grinned. "Now first thing: we take Chameleon to the carnival and help him have fun honestly and legally."

"Okay...I just hope I don't regret this." Ace muttered.

"You'd really do that for me?" Chameleon spoke up, having already gotten up.

"Sure." Dot smiled. "We'll start with the carnival and work our way up. Maybe this'll help you make other friends too."

Chameleon beamed, but Ace just scoffed.

Once the bus came they took it to the carnival (Dot paid for Chameleon, who had originally planned to use his morphing powers to sneak into the bus). Dot and Ace escorted Chameleon around the carnival and taught him how to play the games without cheating. They did get strange looks, but most of the people figured that Ace was just letting Chameleon have fun in the spirit of the holiday.

They day ended and Dot and Chameleon were laughing. Ace had lightened up too by this point, but still didn't trust Chameleon.

"That was a lot of fun." Chameleon admitted. "Even more fun than being a badguy."

"See? Being a goodguy has loads of advantages." Dot smiled.

"I guess reforming won't be so bad...but I have no other way to get money." Chameleon sighed.

"Don't look at me, I'm not loaning you anything." Ace said.

"No one's expecting you to." Dot smirked before turning back to Chameleon. "How about you just work with me? You can help me sort through donations I collect for the poor. I can pay you part-time for it."

"But how do you earn money collecting donations? Besides taking a portion of the donations." Chameleon asked.

"The donations I collect I sell to discount stores and such." Dot explained. "I don't get a lot of money from it, but it's enough to live on if you're not the extravagant type."

"Well, I don't get a lot of money all the time so I've never really bought anything that expensive before." Chameleon shrugged. "Apart from this one time where Snaptrap, Birdbrain, and I were all really rich...your dad was having trouble being on time at the time."

"Oh yeah, mom told us about that...thank goodness he got it together eventually." Ace remembered.

"Well the three of us weren't exactly that thankful..." Chameleon muttered. "Although I was slightly thankful...when I lost all that money I found out that my girlfriend was just a money-grabber. If it hadn't been for your dad I probably would've ended up in a loveless marriage."

"Sheesh." Dot winced disapprovingly. "Sometimes I don't know who's worse: the badguys with some morals or the goodguys with major flaws."

"Yeah even I have to admit that ex-girlfriend of yours sounds really bad." Ace nodded.

"Oh well...maybe someday I'll find the right one. Maybe." Chameleon sighed.

"Don't give up, remember we've just started." Dot smiled. "Give it some time and you might find yourself with a lot of friends."

"Thanks." Chameleon smiled. "I really do appreciate this."

"Say, since we're on speaking terms there's something I've really been wanting to ask you." Ace said. "Mom and dad told us that you tried to kill mom countless times, yet you don't seem to be trying that anymore. What stopped you?"

"Your dad." Chameleon explained. "One time many years ago I was about to drown your mother and Dudley just snapped and beat me up enough to send me to the hospital. I decided to quit trying to kill Kitty after that since I didn't want to end up at a morgue next."

"Huh, maybe dad had fallen in love with mom at that point." Dot considered.

"Maybe." Ace agreed.

Some weeks passed. Chameleon started to get used to being a goodguy, but was still having trouble. Now and then he'd relapse, but no matter how often this happened Dot was willing to give him another chance. Chameleon was very grateful, and to show his appreciation he stopped fighting Dudley, Kitty, and Ace. Other agents he'd fight but when one of Dot's relatives stepped in he'd back down.

Dudley and Kitty learned about all this not long after Dot and Chameleon first started. They weren't sure it was a good idea, but Dot could take care of herself now and it did seem to be working. At least kinda working. Plus they knew Ace was helping too (reluctantly) and so didn't worry. If worse came to worse Ace would beat up Chameleon enough to make him look like a pile of mush.

Ace and Dot also helped Chameleon attempt to make new friends by teaching him some social skills. It wasn't working though, most of the town knew him as a criminal and the rest of the town still considered him weird even after Dot said that Chameleon had good traits.

Chameleon was okay with this though, he had one friend in Dot and that was a big improvement in his perspective. He and Dot spent days sorting through donations and delivering them to discount stores and other places. Sometimes when they sorted through donations Chameleon would take some of the items and put on a performance to make Dot laugh. Chameleon's relationship with Ace however wasn't as friendly. They pretty much only tolerated each other.


	2. A Slithery Newcomer

It was now months later and a rattlesnake entered Petropolis. Everyone ran away from her, scared of being bitten. However what they didn't know was that she was extremely friendly. She would never bite anyone and had even weaned herself off rodents. She only snacked on bugs now. She couldn't make any friends in her old hometown so she decided to try a new city and see if she could make at least one friend there. However it didn't look very likely.

One day the rattlesnake slithered through the park and came across Chameleon looking sad on a bench.

"Hello." She said. "Why are you sad?"

"I've been trying to make friends for years but most people find me weird because of my eyes and shedding skin and such." Chameleon explained, not looking up.

"Well that's mean of them, after all those have to do with your species, not you personally." The rattlesnake frowned.

"Thanks, not many understand-" Chameleon now looked up and was startled upon seeing that she was a rattlesnake. "Oh...uh..."

"It's okay, I've experienced worse...like other people running away." The rattlesnake shrugged. "I'm Tillie."

"My name is Chameleon."

"Really? I mean I'm sure that's your last name but..."

"I decided a long time ago to reserve my first name for friends only." Chameleon explained.

"Oh."

Then they heard a buzz.

"Oo dragonfly!" Chameleon shot out a tongue...the same time Tillie did.

Their tongues collided, causing them both to miss the dragonfly. They looked at each other stunned and then laughed.

"Well that was nice timing." Tillie laughed.

"Yeah...say I didn't know rattlesnakes ate bugs too." Chameleon calmed down a bit.

"Not usually, but I weaned myself off rodents when I was a kid and had to get extra protein from somewhere else." Tillie explained.

"Guess we'll have to learn to take turns then..." Chameleon said a bit shyly. "I mean if we continue to hang out...you're one of the first to be nice to me so I wouldn't mind becoming friends if you want to..."

"I'd love to...if you don't mind me being poisonous." Tillie shrugged.

"Well, you've already proven to be friendly so I believe I can handle it." Chameleon smiled.

Tillie beamed.

"Great." She said. "So...gee, you're the first friend I've ever had so I don't know what to do now."

"Well...I've had a little practice." Chameleon thought. "How about we hang out somewhere? Maybe the mall?"

"Okay." Tillie smiled.

They left the park and headed for the mall. Obviously they got strange looks but they ignored those looks. Later they came across a familiar looking cat.

"Oh hi Dot." Chameleon smiled. "Tillie this is Dot, my first real friend."

"Hello." Tillie smiled.

"Hi." Dot smiled back. "It's about time you made a new friend."

"I'll say." Chameleon smiled. "We were just hanging out, do you want to join us?"

"Okay, I'm not very busy today." Dot agreed.

"All right." Tillie smiled, glad about gaining a second friend.

So they continued to hang out at the mall. They explored stores, ate at the food court, and had a great time.

At one point they came across an accessory store and decided to try on some of the items.

"Hey here's a nice pair of sunglasses, how about you try them on?" Tillie found a pair of green-rimmed shades and offered to them to Chameleon.

"Eh, no thanks." Chameleon frowned. "Every pair of glasses I try on I break. My eyes weren't meant for glasses."

"Oh..." Tillie looked at the sunglasses. "I'm sorry to hear that. I kinda know what it's like, I can only wear specialized clothing made for snakes. Most everything else falls off."

"Yeah, you'd think other people would be more generous with those who can't wear the usual stuff." Chameleon nodded.

Later it was time to go home and have dinner.

"Say Tillie, I was wondering...would you like to have dinner at my place?" Chameleon offered.

"I'd love to." Tillie smiled.

Chameleon beamed.

After they arrived and sat down for dinner they talked some more.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Tillie asked.

"I've been helping Dot sort through donations to sell to discount stores." Chameleon smiled. "It's actually kinda fun, sometimes I use a few items to put on a performance for her and often they make her laugh. What about you?"

"I don't have much of a career, mostly I just recycle." Tillie sighed. "Most people don't want to hire me either because they're scared of me or they're worried I'll scare away their customers."

"Oh." Chameleon's smile faded. "I'm sorry to hear that. Well maybe you'll have better luck here."

"I hope so."

When she got home later after dinner Tillie thought about Chameleon's glasses problem and decided to do something about it. Time passed as she worked on a solution. After a couple months she solved it: glasses with flexible lenses that stretched with the eyes. After she perfected the glasses she called Chameleon.

"Hello?"

"Hello Chameleon."

"Hi Tillie, what's up?"

"I created something special for you, can I come over and show you what it is?"

"Sure, I'm not busy."

"Great, see you soon."

"See you soon."

Minutes later, Tillie made it to Chameleon's house and knocked on the door.

"Hey Tillie, great to see you again." Chameleon smiled after he opened the door.

"Same here." Tillie smiled back as she slithered inside.

"So what did you create?" Chameleon asked.

"These." Tillie revealed the pair of sunglasses. "They're sunglasses with flexible lenses."

"Wha-" Chameleon didn't know what to say, no one had ever done anything this nice for him. "You made those for me?"

"Uh-huh." Tillie nodded. "Try them on."

Chameleon shyly took the sunglasses and tried them on. He was surprised.

"They fit!" He gasped. "They actually work!"

Sure enough the lenses stretched with his eyes without breaking or even forming a scratch.

"Oh thank you Tillie!" Chameleon beamed. "I love them!"

"Well, then maybe I should consider applying for a patent." Tillie thought out loud. "That way you can get copies of each new style of glasses. I'll make sure the first copy of each style is free for you."

"Really?" Chameleon smiled.

"Of course, you're the reason why I invented them after all." Tillie smiled.

Chameleon hugged her. She was a bit caught off-guard, she had never been hugged by anyone outside the family before. Despite that she soon recovered and used her tail to return the hug. He then pulled away a bit so they could look at each other.

"My first name is Chaplin." He said.

Tillie looked surprised, and it was understandable. Not even Dot had learned his first name yet. She then smiled.

"I like it." She said. "Can I call you that even in public or would you rather it stayed private?"

"Nah, public is fine." Chaplin smiled.

They spent the rest of the day hanging out outside so that Chaplin could really try out his new sunglasses.

The next day Tillie went to a glasses company to show them her new version of sunglasses. It turns out there was a chameleon on the board of directors who was having trouble coming up with glasses for his species and so loved Tillie's invention. Because of this Tillie was able to sell her invention to the company, with her owning the rights to the brand and a large share of the profits. The brand was called Slithering Specs due to it being for reptiles (chameleons specifically). Tillie ended up joining the company and became head of the division for Slithering Specs. Tillie started to become a bit rich, but this didn't change her one bit. Nor did it change her relationship with Chaplin, they still remained close. And just as Tillie promised Chaplin received the first copy of each new style free.


	3. Heart-Breaks and Mends

Months later, Tillie decided to buy this necklace for snakes she's had her eye on for a long time but could never afford before. It was an Egyptian-style necklace with an ankh in the middle. But when she entered the store she got a huge shock: Chaplin was there robbing the place! He even knocked down a cop!

"Chameleon!" She gasped.

Startled, Chaplin turned around and saw Tillie there. He paled a bit.

"Uh, Tillie, I can explain." Chaplin said nervously.

"Explain what?" Tillie snapped. "That you're actually a crook? That you're a badguy? I can't believe I liked you! I never want to see you again!"

Tillie then slithered out of the store. At that point Dudley, Kitty, and Ace arrived. Dudley and Kitty were a bit confused by Tillie leaving like that but Ace knew that Chaplin had just lost his closest friend. While Dudley and Kitty hadn't met her before, Ace had. Dot had introduced them months ago. Ace ended up liking Tillie and hoped that she could help Chaplin (or Chameleon, since Ace didn't know his first name either) reform. He wasn't going to admit it yet, but he actually had started to warm up to Chaplin.

Chaplin, devastated, dropped his stolen goods and let Dudley, Kitty, and Ace arrest him. Later Ace called Dot who rushed over to Petropolis Prison. Ace escorted her to Chameleon's prison.

"Hi Chameleon." Dot said to Chaplin through the bars.

"Hi Dot." Chaplin sounded close to tears.

"Ace told me what happened, I'm really sorry." Dot said sympathetically.

"It's not your fault, it's mine." Chaplin hung his head. "One moment of weakness and I lose the best friend I ever had."

"It's not too late, if you explain things to her maybe she'll forgive you." Dot suggested.

"Explain how? I doubt she'll want to visit me here." Chaplin shrugged.

Ace sighed reluctantly.

"I'll put you on early parole so you can see her." He said.

Chaplin and Dot looked at him surprised. Dot then hugged him.

"You're the best brother ever!" She smiled.

"Yeah yeah..." Ace, despite still being reluctant, couldn't keep from smiling back.

So Ace let Chaplin out and they went to look for Tillie. They found her in the park, where she and Chaplin had first met.

"Tillie?" Chaplin said hesitantly.

Tillie looked up and gasped.

"I thought I told you that I never wanted to see you again!" She glared.

"Hear him out." Ace raised his paws.

Tillie looked at him with shock. She still frowned, but she stayed.

"I admit, I was a badguy before." Chaplin began. "When I was much younger and was trying to make friends I kept getting arrested for minor offenses like loitering, so I decided that if they were going to arrest me then it might as well be for bigger offenses. It then became a habit I couldn't break, and soon my career. However when Dot found out why I became a crook she took pity on me, befriended me, and started teaching me how to be good again. I have partially reformed, but I keep having relapses. When you saw me rob that store it was another relapse."

Tillie wasn't sure how to react.

"I'll try harder to reform for your sake." Chaplin continued. "I don't want to lose you Tillie, you're the best friend I ever had."

Tillie now looked at him and saw in his eyes that he was being sincere. He was even pointing both of them at her. Touched, she smiled.

"Well, since you promised to try harder I'll give you a second chance." She decided.

Chaplin, happy, hugged her. She returned the hug.

Thanks to Tillie Chaplin had an easier time reforming this time. In fact once she helped him get a new career he ended up reforming entirely. He became the test guy for her glasses.

Months later Chaplin and Tillie were walking down the sidewalk when they heard some female lizards talking. One of them looked very familiar.

"Ugh, is that the loser you used to date?" One lizard said.

"Yeah that's him." The familiar lizard frowned. "He was okay when he was rich but now he's just annoying. I'm glad I dumped him as soon as he was arrested."

Chaplin was shocked: the familiar lizard was Charmaine!

"Hey!" Tillie snapped. "Chaplin is not annoying! He happens to be a sweet and friendly guy and I will not tolerate you speaking poorly of him! Now apologize!"

Charmaine, intimidated by Tillie's fangs, backed away with fright. So did her friends.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Charmaine said quickly.

"Good, and I never want to hear of you insulting Chaplin again got it?" Tillie demanded. "Now leave!"

Charmaine and her friends ran away.

"Thank you." Chaplin smiled.

"What are friends for?" Tillie smiled back.

Close to two years passed, and Chaplin had realized something.

"Uh, Tillie." Chaplin said nervously as they were having lunch in one of the restaurants. "I have a confession to make."

"What is it?" Tillie asked.

"Well, these past two years have been the best of my life, mostly thanks to you, and...I..." Chaplin gulped. "I've fallen in love with you."

Tillie just smiled.

"I love you too." She said.

Chaplin smiled, and they both kissed. They started dating, and a little over two years later they married. Later on they had a male rattlesnake named Sam. Three years later they had a female chameleon named Cassie. Normally Chaplin hated kids, but he couldn't help but love his own children.

Chaplin Chameleon was never a Very Lonely Lizard again.


End file.
